64% citizens in dark about subsidised LED scheme: Survey

Though the scheme was announced by the central government, its distribution and execution is in the hands of the state electricity boards.NEW DELHI: Government is promoting the usage of LED bulbs aggressively, but a survey claims that as many as 64 per cent of the citizens have not got these energy efficient bulbs and do not know how to get them.

According to a poll carried out across more than 56 cities and 20 plus states by LocalCircles, a citizen engagement platform, 64 per cent consumers across the country still do not know how to get these LED bulbs.

"The reason for this is that the scheme has not been communicated to consumers properly. They are not aware of where to procure these bulbs from, how many bulbs can they buy and what is the paperwork required for the same," the survey said.

The government had announced the LED distribution scheme under which customers of electricity boards could buy LED at a subsidised rate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the scheme in April 2015. Though the scheme was announced by the central government, its distribution and execution is in the hands of the state electricity boards.

Consumers feel that the process for procuring LED bulbs should be simple. It should be communicated in all languages including local regional language in advertisements, and on the bills being sent to consumers.

Citizens also suggested that local distribution agencies should send SMSes and have a hotline that citizens can call and find information, the survey said.

Moreover, they suggested that these bulbs be marked by specific identification codes that is visible so that this stock is not sold in the open market. Consumers feel that there is huge chance of subsidised LED bulbs being sold in the open market by unscrupulous elements, it added.

State wise poll results for select states shows that 67 per cent of citizens in Delhi do not know how to get subsidised LED bulbs, while in Andhra Pradesh the figure stood at 48 per cent, Gujarat (58 per cent) and Haryana (79 per cent).

Among other states, in Karnataka 54 per cent said they do not know how to get these bulbs, Madhya Pradesh (39 per cent), Maharashtra (73 per cent), Punjab (92 per cent), Rajasthan (39 per cent), Tamil Nadu (96 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (59 per cent) and West Bengal (97 per cent), among others.

"It is a good scheme to reduce overall power consumption, and though the process has been well defined by the central government's nodal agency it is not being followed at the state level. As a result the scheme is not being implemented across number of states," LocalCircles India Chief Strategy Officer K Yatish Rajawat said.